A large bat that roosts in trees in India and elsewhere, and feeds on fruit at night.
It has large eyes, simple ears and broad wings attached to a dark-colored body.
In a survey of 12 villages in northern Tamil Nadu, India, from June 2020 to January 2021, researchers recorded 22,365 Indian flying foxes in 72 colonies on 72 trees. The roosts included 13 tree species from nine families, with many bats using tamarind.
Colony size was associated with trunk diameter and canopy spread, but not clearly with tree height. Eucalyptus was common in the study area but not used as a roost. The authors suggested that repeated cutting before trees grew large might help explain that local pattern. Of 80 residents interviewed, 74 considered a colony a sign of village prosperity and 66 worried about declines in bats or roost trees. One village avoided festival fireworks to protect its colony.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In northern Tamil Nadu, the study recorded smoke from sacred-grove shrines that disturbed bats and led them to move to other trees, as well as pruning of roost branches to clear power lines or let more sunlight reach fields. A current formal global category and assessment date were not identified in the reviewed sources.